Choose The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns
Choose The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns if you want an Adventure experience. On Steam, it's Steam Deck Verified, so handheld play works out of the box. The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns launched in 2016.
The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns vs Once on a windswept night
The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns and Once on a windswept night both land in Indie, Casual on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Indie, Casual on Steam. The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns (2016) is 1 year older than Once on a windswept night (2017). Both sit near 91% positive on Steam (The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns: 587 reviews, Once on a windswept night: 139). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Once on a windswept night
Choose Once on a windswept night if you want a Free To Play experience. Once on a windswept night launched in 2017.
Both The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns and Once on a windswept night sit in Indie and Casual on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (90.6% vs 91.4% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns |  Once on a windswept night | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2016 | 2017 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure, Casual | Indie, Free To Play, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, Linux |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Unrated |
| Price | Free to play | Free to play |
| Steam reviews | 90.6% positive (587 reviews) | 91.4% positive (139 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | ebi-hime | ebi-hime |
Side by side
- Both share Indie, Casual on Steam.
- The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns (2016) is 1 year older than Once on a windswept night (2017).
- Both sit near 91% positive on Steam (The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns: 587 reviews, Once on a windswept night: 139).
- Both are free to play.
- The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Once on a windswept night has no Deck rating yet.
The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns vs Once on a windswept night — FAQ
- Which is better, The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns or Once on a windswept night?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns sits at 90.6% positive (587 reviews), Once on a windswept night at 91.4% (139). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns or Once on a windswept night first?
- If you want chronology, The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns (2016) came out before Once on a windswept night (2017). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns and Once on a windswept night similar?
- They overlap on Indie, Casual on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Does The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns is rated Deck Verified by Valve. Once on a windswept night doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.